Mercedes bosses order Hamilton, Rosberg to put aside 'rivalry' ahead of Bahrain GP

Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have been reportedly ordered by their bosses to sort out the dozens of ways in which their rivalry could explode into controversy ahead of Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Mercedes bosses reportedly called the two drivers for secret crisis talk in Brackley as they fear that Mercedes' best chance yet to win a world title could go up in flames if their private battle gets out of hand.

The meeting, which was attended by Mercedes overlords; triple champion Niki Lauda, Toto Wolff and technical director Paddy Lowe, went on for hours as the bosses were determined to cover every eventuality that could go wrong, the Mirror reports.

Ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix in Bahrain Wolf said that they spent a lot of time with the racers, as they want Hamilton and Rosberg to be fair and say that their first opponent would not be the teammate, but everyone else.

Wolf added that they have explained to the racing duo on how to respond in these more than two-dozen cases.

The Mercedes bosses' fears have been fuelled by the Malaysian Grand Prix clash that happened last year, because the racers rivalry threatened to explode after Rosberg was told not to overtake Hamilton despite being faster, the report added.